Canary News and Action

September 15, 2005

- Canary Coalition Comments at  EPA Hearing on Agency's Failure to Respond  Adequately to North Carolina's 126 petition.

- Mushrooms for Clean Air

- Membership Renewal Reminder

Statement to EPA, September 14, 2005

I would like to say good morning to the panel members and to all who are in this room.  I’m Avram Friedman and I’m representing the Canary Coalition, a broad-based grassroots network of community leaders, local government officials, businesses, medical associations, environmental organizations and individuals, with members in 22 states, who are deeply concerned about poor air quality in the Smoky Mountains and greater Appalachian region.

This hearing is being held today as a part of a court-approved settlement between the EPA and the state of North Carolina.  The settlement is a result of a threatened lawsuit against the EPA by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.  The threat of a lawsuit was necessary because EPA failed to meet its responsibilities under section 126 of the Clean Air Act when North Carolina filed a petition against polluting sources in thirteen upwind states for contributing to this state’s poor air quality, helping to create non-attainment areas within North Carolina.  EPA did not respond within the 60 days of the petition filing, as required by law, but instead granted itself a six month extension.  After six months there was still no response and the lawsuit was threatened. The settlement called for EPA to address the 126 petition no later than July 31.  On July 31, EPA responded with a weak, inadequate statement essentially ignoring the contents of the 126 petition, touting the terms of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) it released earlier this year, claiming that this action would be sufficient to answer North Carolina’s interstate air quality concerns.  Sufficient, even though the new CAIR rules exempt Southern Company, in Georgia, one of the largest contributors to North Carolina’s air pollution problems, from the summertime NOx standards.  Sufficient, even though the ultimate target reduction year in CAIR is 2015, ten years away, as opposed to the three year timeline required in section 126. Sufficient, even though we are talking about major polluting sources that have, for thirty- five years, enjoyed exemptions from requirements to install modern emission control systems, despite the ready availability of off-the-shelf technology that has the ability to reduce nitrogen-oxide and sulfur-dioxide emissions by more than ninety percent. Sufficient, despite the fact that more than 30,000 people die prematurely every year in the Unites States, unnecessarily, because of the affects of air pollution.  Sufficient, despite the fact that asthma attacks are the number one cause of absenteeism in the public schools of western North Carolina. No! It is not sufficient. I’m here to tell you it is not sufficient.

I’m under no illusion that I’m talking to an Environmental Protection Agency that actually has as its mission the protection of the environment.  The current administration under who you operate has made it abundantly clear that utility company shareholder profits are much more important to your mission than the health and well being of people and the environment on which all our lives depend.  I’m under no illusion that your agency intends to meet its responsibilities under section 126 or its responsibilities in general to reduce air pollution as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I’m under no illusion that the agency that has attempted to gut the New Source Review provision is going to turn around and willingly enforce another aspect of the Clean Air Act that would accomplish essentially the same reduction in emissions from older power plants, factories and refineries.  Lets stop pretending that the administration that would attempt to strong-arm through Congress the so-called “Clear Skies” legislation by manipulating the process and threatening key witnesses with financial audits, is going to willingly allow substantive progress or even full enforcement of existing environmental regulations.  

Lets be clear that your agency and the movement I represent are involved in a human rights struggle.  People have the right to breathe clean air and polluting industries and, corrupt government enforcement agencies on the federal and state levels are violating that right.  And just like the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties that had to overcome government indifference, violation of voting rights and unequal treatment under the law for all people, so will this movement overcome your agency’s flippant attitude toward its responsibilities under the law. The delay has gone on long enough.  No more capping and trading or other gimmicks to delay what should have been done half a century ago. We want clean smokestacks now. Not in 10 or 15 years. Your agency may not intend to enforce the law and protect our rights, but the EPA is going to do exactly that.  Because there is a groundswell developing in this country that will make hurricane Katrina look like a passing sun-shower and it’s going to blow this whole corrupt and inept administration out of the water just like we did to Nixon thirty years ago. We have a right to breathe clean air and we are determined that this right will be realized.  Thank You.

Statement by Avram Friedman

Executive Director of the Canary Coalition

PO Box 653, Sylva, NC 28779

828-631-3447

avram@canarycoalition.org

For the Love of FUNGUS
A day of wild mushrooming with Alan Muskat

A benefit for The Canary Coalition
Wednesday, October 19th, 2005, 10-2 PM
Lake Powatan Recreation Area near Asheville

Join Asheville’s own “epicure of the obscure” on a quest for the edible and incredible wild mushroom: fragrant chanterelles and sumptuous morels; giant puffballs and purple fairy fans. As we fill our baskets, you’ll learn how to safely find, identify, appreciate, maybe even eat these elusive delights. You’ll also learn about medicinal mushrooms, dyeing with mushrooms (that's D-Y-E) and more, all with The Mushroom Man's unique blend of poetry, stories, wit & wisdom. Short, easy strolls; all ages welcome. A wild mushroom tasting and cookout will follow the event.

Each participant will receive a copy of Alan’s fungus-hunting handbook, Wild Mushrooms: A Taste of Enchantment, as well as the Matchmaker wild mushroom identification database on CD-ROM. We’ll practice using this valuable tool at the workshop, so bring your PC laptop if you have one. Also bring a bag lunch and/or something for the grill. We’ll be right by the Powatan “beach,” so bring a towel and a bathing suit if you’d like to swim afterwards.

The donation is $40/person. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, call Zev at 828-279-2870 or send check payable to “The Canary Coalition” to POB 2574, Asheville, NC 28802.

Alan Muskat has persuaded thousands to sample rather than trample the toadstools. He teaches at the North Carolina School of Holistic Herbalism and is author of Wild Mushrooms: A Taste of Enchantment (to be published by Ten Speed Press in 2007). He's recently popped up at The New York Nature Conservancy, The California Academy of Sciences, and The Stamford Museum. He has been recently featured in Attaché and Country Living magazine and his wild mushroom special for Folkways airs on PBS this Fall. Visit him online at www.alanmuskat.com.

Ask anyone who knows the Mushroom Man: when it comes to bringing out the fun in fungi, he's the champignion.

Membership Renewal Reminder

Send contact information and donations to:

Canary Coalition

PO Box 653

Sylva, NC 28779

or you can donate online